Internal Arts Madeira

10/09/2026

Hello to all! Now that summer is coming to an end and winter will soon arrive, I wanted to remind you of my weather cancellation policy:

I use Accuweather to monitor weather conditions in Madalena do Mar and Funchal (https://www.accuweather.com/en/pt/madalena-do-mar/863117/weather-tomorrow/863117).

*Rain*

If the weather forecast predicts lass than 30% chance of rain, I will not cancel classes.

If the weather forecast predicts more than 30% but less than 50% chance of rain, I will go to the location to evaluate the conditions myself and make an announcement. I will do my best to accomplish this at least one hour before the class start time, but please be aware that conditions can quickly change and class may have to be canceled later. Use your own judgement regarding whether or not you want to risk it.

If the weather forecast predicts a 50% or higher chance of rain, I will cancel class. If the conditions are really terrible, I usually make the announcement the night before, no later than 10pm. If it seems like conditions might improve, I wait until the morning and make a decision at least one hour before class starts.

*Wind*

I will cancel class if the weather forecast predicts sustained wind speeds of 20 KPH or higher.

Cancellations will be announced here, as well as on our private WhatsApp group channel.

Thanks!

08/09/2026

We might use different terminology, but the same concept also applies to Tai Chi.

07/09/2026

Thank you to everyone who purchased a copy of my book, "Bosnia Mix 96!"

I very much appreciate it!

If you've read the book and liked it, it would be a great help if you could take a few moments to leave a positive review on Amazon.

Thanks!

And to those of you who didn't know, yes, I wrote a book and self-published it on Amazon. The title is "Bosnia Mix 96!" and it's a memoir of my year spent in Bosnia as part of the peacekeeping force that went there after the end of the war in the mid-1990s.

It's not a book about the grand strategy of the event, but more of a personal account of the absurdities and frustrations day-to-day life of an ordinary soldier serving in a foreign land.

Links to the book are below (these are affiliate links, so if you use them to purchase a copy of the book, Amazon will pay me a small fee in addition to my normal royalty).

Thank you again to you all!

Paperback Print Version: https://amzn.to/4zZX7oa

eBook Version: https://amzn.to/4zZX7oa

Bosnia Mix 96!: Witness to a War Gone By... A Memoir

14/08/2026

No two people practice Tai Chi or Qigong the exact same way, just as no two people have the exact same handwriting.

[This article was recently published to my Substack, where you can find many others like it on the topics of Tai Chi, Qigong, diet, health, and living a good life. Subscription to my Substack is free - link is in the comments section below. Thanks!]

Take two people, give them each a pen and a sheet of paper, and ask them to each write a few sentences about their favorite food, then compare the two.

You’ll quickly notice that their letters look different, their sentence structure doesn’t match, and they use different vocabulary.

However, if their writing is legible, then it doesn’t really matter. Communicating information was the critical task and, if they managed to succeed, then the differences are inconsequential.

After you’ve been in the Tai Chi or Qigong arena for a while, you’re invariably going to notice that no one is doing exactly the same thing. There are even going to be differences between instructors who learned from the same teacher at the same time.

A lot of this has to do with physical differences: height, weight, age, degree of flexibility, strength levels, injuries, etc.

Also playing an important role are other experiences: maybe one instructor only ever practiced Tai Chi, while the other came to Tai Chi after a few years (or decades) learning other martial arts.

There’s also the matter of personal preference: again using Tai Chi as an example, maybe one instructor really likes the broadsword form, while the other thinks the straight sword is the epitome of sophistication.

These differences are natural and are to be expected.

What’s more important is, despite their differences, do these two individuals still adhere to the basic principles of Tai Chi or Qigong, such as moving the body as a coordinated unit, maintaining proper alignment (shoulder-hip, elbow-knee, wrist-ankle), and so on?

In Qigong, are they breathing correctly, doing the postures in the proper sequence, etc.?

If they are, then the differences are inconsequential.

12/08/2026

Tai Chi and Qigong Training Tip #15: Know Thyself

The only person living inside your body is you (well, maybe there are multiple personalities rattling around inside your mind, but that’s a topic outside the scope of this essay), so it’s up to you to adjust your Tai Chi and Qigong practice to accommodate your physiology. Your instructor cannot possibly know everyone’s unique limitations.

[This article was recently published to my Substack, where you can find many others like it on the topics of Tai Chi, Qigong, diet, health, and living a good life. Subscription to my Substack is free - link is in the comments section below. Thanks!]

I have about 10-12 regular students who routinely come to my Tai Chi or Qigong classes, and a steady rotation of off-and-on participants, or people vacationing on Madeira who decide to pass by and check out the training I offer.

Can you guess how knowledgeable I am about everyone’s list of past injuries, chronic conditions, or other health issues? Almost zero. Other than some general guesses made on the basis of people’s ages or range of motion, I don’t know if someone has a bad knee, a slipped disk, or an old shoulder injury. I don’t know if anyone has a heart murmur, low blood pressure, or an inner ear that causes them to lose their balance.

It’s not that these kinds of issues don’t concern me - and believe me when I say I care deeply about the health and welfare of all my students - it’s more that I don’t really think anyone’s personal medical history is any of my business. Just as I don’t share what I consider to be my private health-related information with anyone other than my wife and my doctor, I don’t expect anyone to share theirs with me.

What this means is that you as the student need to take responsibility for only practicing Tai Chi or Qigong within your own margins of safety. If your instructor asks you to do something that is risky due to your physical limitations, don’t do it. If they insist, you can just mention that an injury or other medical condition doesn’t allow you to comply. If they insist or get upset, then you might want to start thinking about finding a new instructor.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t try to move your body in the requisite fashion, but do it at your own pace and level of comfort. Pushing yourself just a little bit can have a positive effect on recovery and physical improvement, but don’t let anyone push you around or try to pressure you into doing anything that you know - or even suspect - might be dangerous.

Whenever new students come to attend any of my classes, I always make a statement to the effect that I don’t live in their bodies. I don’t know what causes them pain or discomfort. Only they do, and they should always train to the limits of what they consider safe.

I don’t judge anyone if they want to step aside and just observe when things start to get overwhelming. I’m just happy that they took the effort to get up early, made their way to my class, and became a part of this small community of Tai Chi and Qigong enthusiasts that has developed over these past few years.

Disclaimer: The content of my posts is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered medical, physical, psychological, health, or wellness advice. Do not make decisions based on this content alone, or any other information provided by a random stranger on the internet. Do your own research and always consult a qualified health professional. What I share here is meant to provide information to help you explore what’s right for you.

11/08/2026

Don’t believe everything you read, and always read past the headline and first paragraph or two.

I recently came across an article that discusses how Tai Chi prevents insomnia and improves sleep quality.

Sounds good, right? As a practitioner and instructor of Tai Chi, one would think that I’d be pleased to read an article that confirms a number of my biases.

But I’m not. I’ve been on this merry-go-round for a while and I’ve learned to recognize fluff when I see it, and to look for the info buried in the last paragraph or two that contradicts the hype.

Even the title of the article pings my BS radar: “The Ancient Practice That Could Help You Finally Sleep Through The Night…”

Tai Chi is hardly ancient, having been formulated in the mid-1600s. If Tai Chi is “ancient,” then so are Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets. In fact, Shakespeare’s body of work is more “ancient” than Tai Chi.

That aside, the whole premise of the article is that Tai Chi has some kind of special ability to lull you to sleep. It doesn’t. Exercise, regardless of its nature, does.

The article admits as much, mentioning that “…yoga and aerobic activities such as walking, jogging and cycling all improved sleep.”

Where the article slips up the most is it fails to mention when to practice Tai Chi if you want to improve your sleep. In my experience, Tai Chi can be practiced at almost any time of the day, but should be avoided in the 2-3 hours before going to bed; Tai Chi has the potential to increase your energy levels and you might find yourself staring at the ceiling if you engage in a training session right before calling it a night.

There’s also the issue of the claim that Tai Chi doesn’t require a lot of space. Although there are ways to practice in confined areas (which I addressed in this post: https://larryfrost.substack.com/p/coffee-qi-and-me-issue-5-no-room), the fact of the matter is that you need an area about 10 meters long and at least 2-3 meters wide to effectively train most styles of Tai Chi.

So, I hope I’ve convinced you to take these kinds of articles with a grain of salt. Look beyond the hyperbole, search for the truth, and always do your own research.

I’ll put a link to the article in the comments section below.

Practicing Tai Chi can take up a lot of room, but what do you do when space is at a premium?

03/08/2026

I'm an author!

After two years of work, I am pleased to announce that my first book, "Bosnia Mix 96!" has been published and is available for purchase on Amazon.

eBook: https://amzn.to/4w0tr6X
Paperback: https://amzn.to/3SafZQ7

(These are Amazon Affiliate links. If you use them to purchase the book, I will earn a small commission in addition to the royalty.)

"Bosnia Mix 96!" is a memoir of the year I spent in Bosnia as a member of the first group of NATO peacekeeping troops to enter the country after the Dayton Peace Accords ended three years of brutal war.

I kept detailed journals while I was there, and, having rediscovered these handwritten notebooks a few years ago, I decided to transcribe and publish them for others to read.

Part of my reason for doing so was to share my experiences with others, but a more important consideration was the understanding that if I did nothing with my journals, then these memories would likely die with me.

Let me thank you in advance if you decide to purchase either an electronic or print copy of the book.

If you do, and you like what I've written, would you please be so kind as to leave a review on Amazon?

If you don't like it, would you please be so kind as to send me a private message rather than write a derogatory review?

If you really, really like it, and decide to buy multiple copies to give to all of your friends and family for Christmas, that's fantastic! However, I've learned that an important metric on Amazon is total number of orders, not just the number of copies sold; if you purchase two or three copies in separate orders, that helps my ranking on Amazon more than if you purchase two or three copies in a single order.

Lastly, if you are friends with any movie producers or studios that would like to give me a few million dollars for the rights to "Bosnia Mix 96!", feel free to send them my way.

Thanks!

Bosnia Mix 96!: Witness to a War Gone By... A Memoir

30/07/2026

A wonderful, in-depth profile of my Tai Chi instructor and friend, Stephan Berwick.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1HbEpEbG8f/

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephan Berwick. Hi Stephan, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?As a Chinese style martial arts expert, [....

24/07/2026

This just hit YouTube a few hours ago and I highly recommend watching (or listening to) it!

Stephan Berwick is my Chen Taiji instructor and Bow Sim Mark's influence on his teaching methodology is quite clear.

Just as he described with his training under Bow Sim Mark, Stephan emphasizes basics such as stance work, coordination exercises, and building a good structure or frame to "hang" the Taiji on top of. He is also excellent at explaining and demonstrating the "why" as much as the "what" when it comes to learning the forms and the techniques they contain.

Even though I've never met or trained with Bow Sim Mark, in a way she has greatly impacted my own approach to teaching Taiji by way of Stephan. Despite the generational and geographical gap between her and me, I still have a lot to thank her for.

Bow Sim Mark CWRI 50th Anniversary Jean Lukitsh and St...

23/07/2026

On many occasions, I've heard people in the Tai Chi community say that if you don't speak Chinese, then you'll never “truly” understand Tai Chi.

I'm pretty convinced this is just another manifestation of gatekeeping.

What I find interesting is that I also have years of experience practicing Wing Chun, and never, not once, have I ever heard anyone in that community claim it's impossible to “truly” understand Wing Chun if you don't speak Cantonese.

Why is that? 🤔